The two Faunus stared at each other for a solid thirty seconds, still trying to take in their realizations. Cenn kept holding the tooth in his hand, but stared directly into Alice's eyes, who was doing the same exact thing back. Alice stood up.

"Is it..." she started, "really you..?"

Cenn suddenly threw his arms around the slightly taller girl and hugged her tight, tighter than earlier. Alice immediately returned the hug, wrapping one arm around his back and placing one of her hands on top of his head, letting some of his curly, platinum blond hair run through her fingers. Cenn's wings folded behind him, and he started to sob.

"Oh my god," he said, "I forgot..! I forgot about you..!"

Alice rubbed his back.

"Cenn, it's alright," she said, "we're both so much different than we were back then, it's no wonder we didn't recognize each other...Oh god, I can't believe it's actually you!"

She pulled away from the hug and kept her hands on his shoulders. Cenn laughed and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"You still wore the necklace..." Cenn said in exasperation, "I remember giving it to you, before you left for Atlas, but I didn't think you would actually wear it..."

He looked up at her, and noticed something. After he mentioned Atlas, Alice flinched and her smile faded.

"What's wrong?" Cenn asked, concerned.

Alice sat back down on her bed and folded her hands on her lap.

"Cenn..." she said, "I...Let's just say a lot...happened when I moved to Atlas..."

Cenn sat down next to his old friend, clearly worried about her.

"What do you mean..?" he asked.

Alice looked hesitant at first, but then Cenn saw all of the restraint drain away from her face.

"Those people who you gave me to...they weren't a family. They were operatives in a secret branch of the Atlas military. A sort of...super soldier program."

Cenn's eyes widened and he felt his jaw drop. He stared at her, his mouth agape, completely speechless.

"They...taught me how to kill. I was put through all of these experiments and tests along with around thirty other kids...and I was one of the few that survived. with another group of people around the same age as me...the only other ones that survived the process. They were my team...my friends..." she paused. "We trained, ate, slept, and...grew up together. We were inseparable, all of us. Until...until..."

Alice began to trail off, but as she did so, Cenn placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little bit in surprise, then looked to her left. Cenn was looking right into her eyes with a concerned expression.

"Alice," he said, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to..."

Alice smiled softly.

"But I do want to..." she said, then looked down at her folded hands. "To this day...I still don't know why they attacked us. It was a normal day for us at first...until the main branch of the Atlas military showed up. They destroyed everything...and tried to take us with it..."

Her she squeezed her hands together.

"And they succeeded...they killed all of my friends...but I escaped. I used my Semblance...and I ran. I left them to die..."

Cenn rested one of his hands on top of Alice's.

"I'm so sorry..." he said to her, "If only we hadn't given you away, then none of that would've happ-"

"No. It's not your fault. You and your family couldn't have known."

Cenn took a moment to process everything, then nodded.

"So what did you do after..?"

"I did the only thing I could do...I had to use my skills to make it in the world..." She looked up from her hands and stared right into Cenn's eyes. "I took up mercenary work. I became a hit-man...well, hit-woman I guess. I've...I've killed so many people...and now my newest mission brought me here...to Beacon."

There was a slight pause as Cenn let all of the information and all of its implications sink in. Her newest mission? So she was still taking up her work, even now. It was sad, that this was what her life became. Cenn finally spoke again.

"Alice..." he said, "whoever you think you are, be it a supposed terrible person, or the same girl that I found in the park all those years ago, know that everything that happened in the past...it may influence who you are as a person now, but that doesn't mean you can't be the best person you can be. I...I would know."

He looked down at his lap.

"Just know, that whatever you decide to do, I'll be here for you. And though I don't exactly agree with killing people, I will do my best to support you. Because you're my friend. And that's what friends do. I think..."

Alice stared at Cenn with wide eyes and her mouth slightly open, but her expression soon softened, and she smiled.

"Thank you, Cenn..." she said. She adjusted herself so that she was facing him more. "What about you? What happened on your end after I left?"

Cenn felt a pang of guilt in his chest, and a lump form in his throat. A shroud of fear and darkness spread over him. Alice noticed his frightened state and immediately looked concerned.

"Cenn?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and moving closer, "Cenn, what's wrong?"

Cenn felt words try to escape his mouth.

"I-I-I..."

The dorm entrance door slammed open.

"We're back!!!"

Both Cenn and Alice turned to look behind them. Walking into the dorm were the rest of their teammates. Well, the conscious ones, at least. Rogue was carrying an unconscious Mal, while Lex was taking up the rear. Cenn immediately stood up and walked briskly over to his teammates as they were putting Mal back down onto his bed.

"What happened?" Cenn asked, concerned for his partner.

"I don't really know," Rogue explained, "he was fine a few minutes ago. He just suddenly looked really sick and then blood started coming out of his mouth. I used the upgrade portion of my Semblance to try to heal him, but it didn't help with the blood loss."

Cenn suddenly remembered something. When he had woken up from his nightmare last night, he caught Mal wiping something off his mouth, and only now did he realize what it was. It was blood.

As the rest of them stepped away from Mal and went to the dining room table to talk, Cenn kept sitting next to his partner, making sure he was okay.

"Actually..." Rogue said, "there's something I wanted to tell you guys."

Cenn looked up from Mal and over at Rogue and the rest of his team.

"Everything alright, Rogue?" Lex asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine," he explained. "It's just...something weird happened when I tried healing Mal."

Alice leaned in.

"Weird like what?" she asked.

Rogue paused for a second before continuing.

"When I touched him..." he said, "it was almost like our auras...reacted? And when they did...I saw something. And I think he saw it, too, before, you know, he passed out."

"What did you see?" Lex asked.

"It was like...this void. The sky was all black, and the floor was white, but there was something else..." He paused.

"Swords. Thousands of them. They were just...there. Stuck into the ground, lying on the floor, some were even floating in the air. It was just...swords."

The team went quiet. They all looked over at Mal, still unconscious. Cenn was quietly thinking to himself. What could that mean? Why did it happen when Rogue touched Mal? Did it have to do with Mal's Semblance..?

"Should we ask him about it?" Alice asked, "I mean, that's just really strange."

"I...I don't think we should yet," Cenn chimed in. "If Mal isn't comfortable sharing something like that with us now, then he can tell us when he's ready."

The team all looked over at Cenn, thought for a moment, then Alice sighed.

"Fine," she said, "he'll tell us when he's ready, I guess..."

Rogue stood up from his seat.

"Well," he said, "I think we all deserve some rest. Oh right, Alice, everything's okay with you, right?"

Alice jumped slightly at the question, but then nodded.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she said. She looked over at Cenn and smiled. Cenn smiled back.

"Great!" Rogue said, "We have our first weekend in a few days, so we should all get some sleep if we wanna go do something. I'm pretty sure the students from the other schools are going to start coming for the Vytal Festival, too."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Alright, guys! Let's get our rest on!"

~----~

The next day few days happened almost exactly as the ones before it, minus all the team drama. Mal woke up early the day after he passed out, going back to his normal routine as if nothing had happened the day before. He continued to make them all breakfast before they all went to class.

Cenn also soon learned that he had earned a nickname in combat class as a result of his fight with Bara. "Demon Boy". Cenn would've rather not have had a moniker like that, but he knew deep down that it was started all in good fun. Yang came up with the nickname, so he was alright with it.

However, over the course of those few of days, some of the team began to form some unusual friendships. Rogue with Blake, and Lex with Yang. Cenn honestly had no clue how this even ended up happening, but nevertheless, it did. Mal and Weiss continued their usual banter, with Cenn in the background waving his metaphorical Mal x Weiss flag.

Cenn's friendship with both Ruby and Yang also began to flourish. They were the only other people besides his team that he really felt comfortable around.

And as for Bara, maybe it was by chance, or by authoritative intervention, he was moved out of Cenn's combat class and into a different one, much to Cenn and the rest of his team's relief.

And now, it was the dawn of a new day.

A weekend.

Mal, for the first time ever since they had gotten there, finally let them sleep late.

Cenn groggily woke up and looked at the clock. Ten o' clock. An extra four hours. Nice. He hopped out of his bed and walked over to the dining room table, where the rest of his team was, already eating the food that Mal had made them.

"Alright, Team MRACL!" Mal said as they ate, "Today's our first weekend! So, as a celebration of getting through the week, I say that we should go to Vale!"

The rest of the team all gave him a thumbs up.

After eating, all of them got dressed in their normal outfits. Cenn had on his black hoodie and jeans, with his knee high punk boots. He looked in the mirror and smiled at himself. The rest of the team all got ready to leave, and they left for Vale.

Cenn was excited to be back in Vale. This city was his home and had been ever since he was a child. Being away from it for so long made him feel a tiny bit homesick, but he was glad that Beacon was so close.

The team walked down the street, with Mal leading them in the front and Cenn bringing up the rear.

"So," Mal called back to his teammates as he hopped down the street, "What do you guys want to do? We could go greet some of the students who are coming from the other schools, or we could do something else."

"How about we go shopping?" Rogue said, his hands clasped around the back of his neck and his elbows sticking into the air, "We could look for new clothes or something."

"That sounds fun," Alice said, "I'm kind of getting tired of all the leather..."

"Well, then I guess it's decided!" Mal said. "Let's go shopping!!" He raised a fist triumphantly into the air. The rest of the team mimicked him and smiled. As they walked towards the nearest clothing store, Cenn noticed something.

Footsteps. Quick ones. Like someone was sprinting up to them from behind.

He turned around, but as he did so, he heard a high, feminine voice.

"CEEEEEEEEEEEEEENN!!!!!"

Cenn suddenly felt someone slam into him and knock him to the floor. He rubbed his head and slowly opened his eyes.

"Oww...." he groaned as he opened his eyes, but when he regained his sight, his eyes immediately snapped open wider. Sitting on top of him was a girl with short brown hair that was parted over her left eye and tucked behind her left ear. She had golden eyes and soft facial features. She was wearing a pair of light blue overall shorts with a white tee shirt underneath that had yellow stripes.

"Hey-a!" she said cheerfully, with a bright smile on her face.

Cenn managed to stutter out her name.

"K-Kairi?!"

"Yup!" she said, "It's me!"

Cenn laughed, then looked over at his teammates. All four of them were at a ready fighting position, Mal and Rogue having summoned their swords and shields and Lex and Alice with both their fists up.

"I-It's okay, guys..!" Cenn said as the two teens got up off of the ground, "She's a friend..."

The rest of Cenn's team looked at each other, confused, lowering their defenses. Cenn and Kairi looked at each other and laughed. Cenn turned back to his team.

"Guys..." he began, gesturing to the girl beside him, "This is Kairi Kurohebi. She was a friend of mine back in Signal...well, my only friend back at Signal..." He shook his head. "A-Anyway...Kairi, these are my teammates Mal, Rogue, Alice, and Lex..." He pointed to each one individually, and each one gave a small wave.

Kairi began to jump up and down in excitement.

"It's great to meet you guys!" she said with a bright smile.

Cenn clasped his hands in front of him.

"How come you're here?" he asked, "I thought you were going to school in Mistral?"

"Cenn," Kairi said, putting her hands on her hips, "Really? Did you really forget already? I'm here for the Vytal Festival, dummy!"

Cenn laughed nervously to himself.

"Oh, yeah, right..." he said.

Suddenly, a voice called from afar. A feminine one that was slightly huskier than Kairi's.

"Hey, Kai!"

There was a girl down the street, waving Kairi over to where she was. She had shoulder length, wavy black hair, and was wearing a black jacket, a purple combat skirt and black combat boots.

"We're heading out!" she called, "Come on!"

"Coming, Yvonne!" Kairi called over, then looked at Cenn, "I gotta go. We'll catch up later, 'kay?"

Cenn smiled at Kairi and nodded.

"Y-Yeah..!" he said.

Kairi began to jog away, all the while waving back at Cenn and his teammates. Cenn waved back at Kairi with a small smile. Cenn felt someone come up next to him. He turned his head and saw that it was Alice.

"Well she was...a lot," Alice said.

"Yeah..." Cenn said with a chuckle, "that's Kairi for you..."

"Welp!" Mal said, "Let's get to shopping, guys!"

"A-Actually," Cenn interrupted, "you guys go on ahead...I have someone I need to visit."

The rest of his team looked between one another, then Mal nodded.

"Sure," he said, "You sure you don't want us to come with you?"

Cenn shook his head.

"No..." he said, "I'd rather go by myself...thanks anyway..."

Mal gave a thumbs up. Cenn smiled to his teammates, then turned around. He spread his wings and gave them one big flap, which sent him careening into the air. As he leveled out, he looked down at the city below him. It had been a while since he had gotten this view of the city. The people looked like ants below him, and the buildings towered up to slightly below his level. The horizon was always beautiful from this point of view. But he wasn't looking to the horizon. He was watching below him, looking for one, specific place.

And that's when he found it.

He tilted towards the ground, gliding downwards towards a green patch of land near the outskirts of the city. Cenn touched lightly to the ground, the grass crunching beneath the sole of his boots as he softly touched down. He took a deep breath, then exhaled. He looked around the plot of land and its contents.

All around him, stuck into the ground, were gravestones.

He began to slowly walk through the rows of headstones and obelisks. He made various turns, knowing exactly where he was going. After about a minute, he finally stopped walking and faced two headstones. He knelt down in front of them, reading the names.

"Here Lies:
Lilith Norma Ionacht
Age of Death: 34
Loving mother to Cenn and Kane
Huntress

Here Lies:
Kelvin James Ionacht
Age of Death: 35
Loving father to Cenn and Kane
Huntsman"

Cenn took a deep breath in and out.

"Hey, mama..." he said, "hey, papa..."

"A lot has happened over the past couple of weeks. I...I got accepted into Beacon. I'm proud of myself, you know. To get to go to the school that you guys went to. The one you attended to become the amazing Huntsman and Huntress you were." He smiled softly to himself. "I'm a part of the first ever five-man team in Beacon's history. Team MiRACLe. Pretty neat, right? And if you're wondering, yes, they know about my Semblance. And they still like me...at least I think they do..."

Cenn felt his smile fade away from his face.

"I love you guys..." he said, "I'll visit you as much as I can..."

He stood back up, looked at the headstones one last time, turned away and flapped his wings. As he shot into the sky, he saw as his parents' graves faded into the distance, consumed by the haze of the city air.

~----~

Aaaaand chapter 9 done! Thank you guys for reading! Love ya! -Cenn51903